The Nation Newspaper

Category: Brand week

  • Group seeks professional certification for member-agencies

    Group seeks professional certification for member-agencies

    THE Marketers Association of Nigeria, EXMAN is set to standardise its professional qualifications to harness the demand of its members.

    Towards this end, the executives of the association visited the Lagos office of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

    President of EXMAN, Kayode Olagesin, said: “Unlike other sectors of the advertising industry, our sector is not properly organised. That was why we decided to organise ourselves into a professional body with the purpose of building standards within the sector and help the larger IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) industry to grow and also to strengthen ourselves by being each other’s brother’s keeper.”

    He continued: “After our inauguration last year, we have spent quite a bit of time building a strong foundation for ourselves because we are new and we need to do things methodically and register our presence in the minds of industry leaders. So, we felt that it was important that we paid a visit to the different stakeholders within the IMC industry and we believe there is no stronger stakeholder than the APCON in the advertising industry.”

    After presenting the EXMAN Code of Conduct to the APCON officials, which he said was developed as a means of self-regulation to ensure that experiential marketing is practised according to strict professional and ethical standards, the Director, Human Resources, Abimbola Ipaye, who represented APCON Registrar, Alhaji Bello Kankarof, said: “We are very happy that you recognise that APCON is the mother of every sector in the advertising industry. APCON is open to receive as many children as are willing to come to it. We assure you that we shall study your code of conduct and also look at how we can harmonise it for the suitability of the industry.”

    While urging EXMAN members to register with APCON, Ipaye lauded EXMAN, promising that the council would lend it all its support.

     

  • Oando unveils lubricant’s television commercial

    Oando unveils lubricant’s television commercial

    The Televison Commercials (TVC) unveiled by Oando Marketing, a subsidiary of Africa’s largest indigenous energy solutions provider, Oando Plc, is aimed at promoting Oleum, its flagship lubricant brand, Soyinka, its Head of Marketing Communications, has said.

    Speaking at a parley in Lagos, he noted that the TVC, titled: ‘The history’ is the first product-based commercial by Oando Marketing to promote Oleum.

    He said the firm used various advanced film making technology in producing the TVC because it was keen at demonstrating the advanced technology behind the product and “that was why we settled for a TVC that in itself showcases so much in technology”.

    He added that the TVC highlights advanced formulation and cutting edge technology as key ingredients in producting the premium lubricant, demonstrating that Oleum goes through a rigorous process to emerge as ‘The Master Engine Oil.’

    Lubricant Technical Manager, Oando Marketing, Mr. Abayomi Odetola said lubricants are highly technological products with expertise. He said lubricants, which represent a key part of Oando Marketing’s businesses, are manufactured to the highest international standards at all the firm’s ultra-modern lubricant plants in Nigeria.

    “Besides our other lubricant plants, we also have a brand new one in Lagos, which is the most modern lubricant blending plant in West Africa. The combined capacity of our plants is more than 150 million litres,” Odetola said.

    He further said Oando Marketing is a high performing fir, which believes in giving the highest quality lubricants to customers.

    He said: “We partner with some of the world’s biggest technology oriented companies in making our lubricants. This is why we are able to pass all the relevant tests required by the American Petroleum Institute (API), the highest body in the world for the certification of engine oil. In addition, our quality assurance process is very robust. All these are done so that the consumer can have peace of mind after buying any of our lubricants. Oando is reliable and responsible.”

    Soyinka said Oando is unique. “And so, we didn’t want a run-off-the-mill TVC; we wanted something very relevant and appealing but distinctively different,” he added.

     

  • APCON, NBC to hold forum March 20

    THE Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) are organising a stakeholders forum to review the communications and packaging of traditional medical products and services on March 20 at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Iganmu, Lagos.

    Its theme is: Regulating trado-medical packaging and communication for a healthy society.

    The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mrs. Bunmi Cole noted that the forum would afford stakeholders an opportunity to review the packaging and communicating of trado-medical products and services by practitioners in this sector.

    “All registered and yet to register traditional medicine practitioners and marketers, pharmaceutical companies, educational institutions, medical bodies, Ministry of Health, relevant research institutions, advertising agencies and media were required to attend.”

     

  • Mobile tech to revolutionise marketing

    Mobile technology is the

    next step in the market

    ing evolution and a medium which would redefine brands interaction and engagement with their target audiences on the continent, experts have said.

    With half of the continent’s people benefitting from an increasing access to the internet for the first time on mobile devices, the Group Managing Director/ Founder of Terragon Group, Mr. Elo Umeh, at the just concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain said the industry was experiencing a tremendous growth in the mobile market.

    “Mobile penetration in Africa is stipulated to be about 80 per cent in 2013 and growing. Right now, there are more mobile devices than there are television sets. Mobile and digital services have the potential to generate significant earnings and boost the economies in Africa,” he noted.

    African markets account for the highest growth of smart phones globally. Report from a research by Gartner Inc, shows African Telecoms firms specifically are expected to generate over $1.3 billion in mobile advertising revenue alone by 2016.

    “The global market for mobile advertising will reach $18 billion in 2014 and grow to $41.9 billion by the end of 2017 this information goes to show the potential that mobile advertising has, not only in Africa but globally,” he added.

    Terragon, a digital media marketing agency, made its debut at the event with three businesses.

     

  • Promasidor launches Onga cubes

    Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell Milk, has launched Onga cubes into the market.

    This followed the success of Onga powder, which was introduced into the market a decade ago.

    Its Executive Director, Commercial Mr. Kachi Onubogu, said: “After almost two years of insightful and innovative work by the Promasidor team, I am happy to welcome Onga Cube into the Promasidor Nigeria family of brands.”

    He said the new cube is in four grammes and two variants, which can be used for dishes while Onga Chicken, with superior chicken flavour.

    It has 50 cubes in a pouch and 24 pouches in a carton.

    He added that cubes are diffrent from the Onga powder.

     

  • Cutler Communications moves to tackle unemployment

    CCutler Communications, an integrated marketing communications agency, has unveiled an initiative, Promoting Entrepreneurial Education (PEE), to address the country’s unemployment.

    It was unveiled at a public discourse tagged “Job creation: Pathway to sustainable economic growth,” in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The Chief Operating Officer of Cutler Communications, Laura Oloyede, explained that “focusing on promoting entrepreneurial education, especially because the Coordinating Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, called for the involvement of the private sector in entrepreneurship education as a means of tackling the current trend in Nigeria where creative entrepreneurs are job seekers rather than being job providers.”

    She added: “We believe that tackling the unemployment situation in Nigeria is not about pushing for government to create more jobs; rather we should look for innovative ways to tackle unemployment collectively.”

    Oloyede said her firm was working at becoming a bridge between the private sector and the potential entrepreneurs in promoting entrepreneurship through the initiative. “We believe that the pathway to a sustainable economy is everyone’s responsibility. Our duty call therefore, is for people, to embrace entrepreneurship.”

    At the event, which was moderated by Soni Irabor,a broadcaster and marketing communications expert, discussants addressed the need for Nigerians to have a new mindset that the government cannot create jobs alone.

    The discussants, who comprised Lere Baale, Director of Business School Netherlands, Nigeria; Lolu Akinwunmi, Chief Executive Officer of Prima Garnet Africa; and Ituah Ighodalo, an accountant and managing partner, SIAO, agreed that, though it is government’s responsibility to create an enabling environment for job creation, Nigerians must realise that to tackle unemployment, individuals need to embrace entrepreneurship.

     

  • NBC donates tricycles to group

    The Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited has restated its commitment to protecting the environment by supporting Wecyclers Nigeria Limited, a group that seeks to solve the urban waste challenge by using a fleet of low-cost cargo bicycles to offer convenient household collection of wastes.

    To expand its collection capacity, the company has donated eight tricycles, known as Wecycles, to the group.

    Speaking at the handover, which took place at the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) yard in Ebute-Metta, Head, Public Affairs and Communication, NBC, Mrs. Adeyanju Olomola, said the company was delighted to support Wecycler’s drive on waste collection in Lagos State.

    Olomola added that NBC’s sponsorship and participation in recycling is borne out of an active commitment of the company to packaging waste recovery and recycling, one of its seven sustainability pillars, noting that the deal with Wecyclers, represents a community-led initiative.

    She  emphasised that NBC was not only concerned with refreshing consumers with a wide range of products, but is also interested in working in partnerships to minimise the impact of packaging on the environment.

     

  • IABC appoints Ikiebe into Global Communication Council

    The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has appointed a communication and media scholar, Richard Ikiebe, into a 10-person inaugural Global Communication Certification Council to develop and manage an international certification programme for business communication with ISO endorsement.

    IABC President and International Executive Board chair, Robin McCasland announced appointment.

    An Associate Professor at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), United States Dr. Janet McCormick, will chair the council, while its Vice-chair is Dr. Rajeev Kumar, of the Tata Group Corporate Communication in Mumbai, India.

    Ikiebe has a renewable three-year term. Others to serve with him are Ana Maria Ramirez-Gomez, Zurich, Switzerland; Lynda G. Phelan, Alberta, Canada; Liam FitzPatrick, London, United Kingdom; Jacky Hood, Palo Alto, California, US; Neil Griffiths, London, United Kingdom;

    Others are two ex-officio members, Russell Grossman, IABC vice chair, and Ann Lazarus, IABC interim executive director.

    The council will hold its inaugural meeting in April.

    Nigerian chapter President, Chido Nwakanma, congratulated Mr. Ikiebe, noting that his appointment would further the recognition and growth of business communication in Africa as well as stimulate adoption of best practice paradigms by communication professionals in the private and public sectors.

     

  • Winner emerges in Star promo

    A 41-YEAR-OLD dealer from Enugu State, Mr. Timothy Victor, has emerged the first winner in Star Lager beer’s Trip To Brazil promo.

    This qualifies him for an all-expense paid trip to Brazil.

    The promo is a brand activation from Star beer produced by Nigerian Breweries Plc.

    Eleven winners are expected to emerge from draws, which will be held in selected bars across key regions/districts of the country.

    Victor, who could not hide his joy when his ticket was picked at the Cyclic Centre, Costain, Lagos, said: “I’m very very happy because I wasn’t expecting to win. I came from Egbeda to Costain, just because of this promo.”

    Another winner, Alhaji Abdullahi Abiodun Ayinla, won a 2.5 KVA power generator. He said Star was not his regular beer, but only drank it when he learnt of the promo.

    In addition, two others, Chidi James and Amarachi Joy Eze, won 32’ TV sets.

    The Brand Manager, Star, Mr. Omotunde Adenusi, said the  promo was the brand’s way of appreciating consumers for their patronage.

    Omotunde added: “As Nigeria’s highest selling beer brand, we continually seek means of rewarding our consumers. Taking them on an all-expense paid trip to Brazil is a memorable experience, which I’m sure, they’ll cherish for years to come.”

     

  • Food exhibition holds April 24

    to celebrate the centenary, ARESVEEPEE Limited, a subsidiary of Keskese Limited, will hold the first Nigerian Foods and Drinks Exhibition tagged: ‘Naija Food Fiesta’ between Thursday, April 24 and Sunday, April 27 at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos.

    The organisers said the event is aimed at promoting various foods, beverages, confectionary, condiments, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks from the six geo-political zones to grow the sector.

    According to the Managing Director, ARESVEEPEE Limited, Miss Kemi Koyejo, participation is opened to manufacturers of foods.

    She noted that the ‘Naija Food Fiesta’ offers unique and huge marketing opportunities to exhibitors as it provides them an excellent platform for showcasing and growing their businesses through massive brand awareness and brand visibility with consumers.

    She explained there would be presentation of certificates at the closing.